LAKE FOREST, Ill. – By now, you've seen the play. Everyone has seen Justin Fields not hit a wide-open Darnell Mooney for what could have been a touchdown in the Bears' 20-12 Week 4 loss to the New York Giants at MetLife Stadium.
Mooney explained that he ran the wrong route on the play, so he wasn't in the area Fields was looking for him to be. Fields and head coach Matt Eberflus noted the Bears coached the 23-year-old quarterback to either check the ball down to the back or take off and run when the Giants presented the Cover 2 shell look they gave on that play. Fields did as he was coached. Eberflus praised Fields for following the coaching points but would also like the second-year signal-caller to see and hit the throw when it's wide open.
As the Bears continue the slow process of building a better Justin Fields, the Mooney miss is a perfect example of where they see the young quarterback making a good play – he scrambled for 12 yards to pick up a first down on third-and-10 – with room for him to turn it into a great play.
"I'd say, yes. But I'd also say, we're trying to convert," quarterbacks coach Andrew Janocko said Thursday when asked how he viewed Fields' decision on the play. "It's third down, what are you doing to convert? Well, you're going through a progression, but there's a natural time clock in your head. When that natural time clock goes off, you got to go, and then you make a play.
"Obviously, that play has been talked about quite a bit lately and, in our mind, can we go from good to great on that? Yeah, we can. But at the same time, he made a heck of play, an excellent decision, and he moved the sticks for us. We don't want to discount that decision either."
Offensive coordinator Luke Getsy noted that play is not an easy one for a quarterback to make. When a receiver is not in the window you expect him to be at the time he's supposed to be there, your mental clock and feet tell you it's time to go.
To Getsy, the bigger issue with that play was Fields cut the wrong way on his scramble and could have ended up inside the 5-yard line had he taken the proper lane.
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Fields has only started 14 career games. Only four of those starts have come in Getsy's system and with the rebuilt mechanics and footwork.
The Bears are focused on the process and Fields' daily progress. They can't be mad at Fields for converting a third down with his legs. But they also want to get to the point where he makes a great play, not just the good one.
"I think recognizing the coverage," Janocko said about coaching Fields on the Mooney miss. "Recognizing where we are on the field, too. There are times where you don't want to take points off the board as your clock goes off – not knocking your kicker out of range or whatnot. That's not specific to that play, but once you cross into that plus territory, that goes off in your head too.
"To me, I think, where are your eyes? How are your feet talking to you? It's the same thing that we preach on every single snap. Are my eyes leading my feet? Are my feet talking to me? How are my feet talking to me? That's going from a good play, and how do we make it great? Well, keep letting your feet talk to you, sharpen up your vision, sharpen up your progression, and that's how it goes from good to great."
Fields and the Bears worked tirelessly all offseason to get the Ohio State product ready for a Year 2 breakout.
The breakout still could come. We are only four games into the season, and Fields still is mastering Getsy's system. You also must consider the inadequate pass protection and lack of weapons at receiver.
From the Bears' standpoint, they know how early Fields is in his development. They know it won't all be perfect but are seeing a lot of positives as the young quarterback progresses through the plan.
"When you get into a new system, yeah, there are going to be bumps and bruises along the way," Janocko said. "As you adjust, as jump into – especially a young player -- he's in his second year, really his one-and-a-half year starting. So yeah, we are going to see growing pains, you are going to witness growing pains at times. But then you do see the marked improvement. Are there adjustments? Yeah. Whether it be from another system, or just growing in general as a young player adapting to this league, there are times where you see that."
One play against the Giants was an example of Fields showcasing how far he has come since training camp. It's not a play most will remember, which shows you the fine-toothed comb the Bears are using when evaluating every snap from Fields.
"I guess you could say as he's progressing in the down, keeping his eyes up and making a play, making a play downfield," Janocko said. "Even though it wasn't ultimately successful, we had the keeper on the sideline where he made just an unbelievable play to get away and he was able to keep his eyes downfield and dump the ball off their close to our bench. To see that, and to realize maybe I could get a yard or 2 running, but I also had a chance to make a better play there, I think you can see that. I think if you saw that same play in camp or in the preseason, he may have tucked it down and ran."
The Bears and Fields are building brick by brick. They know everything won't click overnight. But the hope and belief are that once enough of the smaller blocks are in place, the progress will accelerate, good will become great, and those plays can turn losses into wins.
"We talk about things all the time that we are taking one bite of the elephant, and as we progress, as we keep progressing, those things that go from good to great translate into wins," Janocko said. "In the games that we've won, you've seen of that show up. In the games that we lost, you still see some of that show up, but how can we build on that to make it translate from a loss to a win."
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Fields not hitting Mooney was a notable play. It had the potential to be a massive play in a game where the Bears never found the end zone and lost by eight. But the Bears didn't view it as a huge whiff. Instead, they saw it as a small win with room for improvement.
It was just another step in the path they are building to help Fields grow into a quarterback who makes great plays when the opportunity arises.